➸featured on the What's Hot list
➸winner of The Most Addictive Story in The Writers Awards 2017
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❝ i'm going to woo you;
piece by piece,
word by word,
letter by letter. ❞
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In which Nova Hart, a star badminton player and hopeless roma...
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DUMBSTRUCK
SHE'D JUST PLACED HER HANDS on the handle of the school doors, ready to once and for all, when a shout fell on her ears.
"Hart!"
Nova paused in her steps and turned halfway to see Graham approaching. She was surprised when the usual streak of annoyance she experienced when someone wanted to speak to her just as she was leaving school didn't flare up in her.
Maybe he was growing on her, in his own Graham-like way.
"You dropped something," he told her, slightly out of breath considering he'd also just finished practises himself, if his jersey and shorts were any indication.
"What?" She asked, half baffled and half distracted by how messy and tousled his chestnut hair was. Oddly, she found herself appreciating the look compared to the tidy way it was kept during school hours.
He reached into his bag and pulled out the iris she'd left in the cafeteria; it looked slightly crushed, probably by both Graham tucking it into his bag and her fist clenching around it earlier. Other than that, it still looked good.
"I didn't drop it," Nova muttered, not really knowing what to do or so in this situation.
"Don't be silly," he chided, "why else would it have been on the ground? You couldn't have taken it off because someone said something right? That's not the Nova Hart I know and respect. And definitely not the Nova that Addy, and Piper and Monica love for that matter."
Nova was dumbstruck and before she could even beginto think of an appropriate response, his hand had moved towards her ear, the tips of his calloused fingers brushing against her skin as he tucked the worn out flower into her slightly damp hair.
"See, all better now," he smiled easily, poking her cheek in what seemed like an impulse.
Nova let out a surprised bark of laughter, swatting his hand away and watched his mouth stretch into a grin as he looked at her.
It felt like one of them was about to say something, but the hallways were now deserted and the silence magnified the sudden skylinenotification tone from Nova's phone, effectively cutting off any possible conversation.
"Umm... Its my sister," Nova's eyes scanned the text from Caroline asking her to pick up a few things on the way home. "Sorry, man, I gotta —"
"Yeah, no, sure," he waved a hand in the air in a casual manner. "See you tomorrow."
Nova smiled, waved a goodbye and then headed out just as Graham turned around and walked back to the boys' locker room.
Oddly enough, she couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her from somewhere towards her left.
